Sword Dances
by Sophia Likes Sweets
Summary: Ayame is a young girl in a small village. Exceptionally well with the sword, she easily becomes the best in her village of 300. She meets Akura-ou and end up having their first meeting as a fight. Will she allow herself to fall in love or even stay friends with a demon? Well, she'd be too dense to notice her own feelings anyway. Too bad for you Akura-ou. (Akura-ouXOC) *I don't own*
1. Chapter 1

"Ayame, would you like to go hunting with us?" I quickly stopped collecting herbs and stared at them awestruck. They were giving me, as in, _me_, a chance to go hunting with them?! They must have noticed my shock since they laughed loudly and proudly.

"Well little lady, you certainly have gotten better at your swordsmanship lately."

"I don't think 'gotten better' is the correct term for this, Rei, she's basically good as any master by now."

"Hey, don't give her too much credit; after all, she's still fourteen." I stood up immediately.

"I want to go! Definitely!" Rei and the others chucked and nodded their heads.

"We leave at six in the morning tomorrow, don't be late!" I nodded and thanked them. The second they were out of sight, I did my little victory dance. I was known as the number one sword-user in the village. Not too much of an achievement since our village is basically made out of three-hundred people or so. I cheered and even danced a little bit, I self-taught myself the sword, so no one else has my fighting style. My skill could match about twenty men, max. I know that sounds a little far-fetched, but believe me. I proved that fact well enough during the war with the neighboring village. However, since the katana or any sword really, isn't good for hunting, I never get to go. But this is the first time they're letting me, I'm so excited! I have never fought against a demon before, but that's the sword's true purpose. I hope to fight one someday; they say a warrior cannot truly become a warrior before defeating a demon. I'll show them! I'll be the first one in my village to single-handily defeat a demon. First, I have to finish collecting herbs and pack my stuff! I finished cleaning up and rushed back to my hut. It was empty, as expected. My mom died giving birth to me and my dad ran to the neighboring village when war started, since they had more people them us. Heh, I remember his pitiful face when we won, he was crying and begging. He even had enough guts to point out I was his daughter, the elders made the decision that he was banished and to stay at the neighboring village. Since then, I was living alone in the hut, people and elders occasionally came to check up on me, to make sure I was okay and was eating right. I guess they felt pretty bad for banishing my dad, not that I really care. In fact, I don't want to ever see his ugly face and potbelly ever again. I grumbled as I shifted in my futon, it was comfy and warm, but I couldn't sleep. I have to though, tomorrow, I'm going hunting. I smile as darkness fades over. I woke up due to my internal clock, something everyone in the village has. Looking outside, I'm guessing it's about five-thirty. I finish getting ready, grab my 300 pound katana and head outside. Why it's so heavy? Well, not to brag, but I had it specially made so I can brag about it. Haha, no, just joking, for some reason, only heavy weapons work well on me. I can't handle light weapons, they always feel so airy and light, they're too hard to handle. I stop near the clearing of the forest; everyone was there already, only Rei was not there. About a few minutes later, he came. He had his bow and arrow ready to shoot anything. We headed out. I fought well against larger animals, like bears and moose, however, bunnies and birds; not so much. After we were done, I killed three moose, and five bears. We had to bring every male in the village and took about three trips to bring everything back. Later that night, we had a huge feast, mainly moose and bear meat, as expected.

"Man, this stuff is good. Letting you come with us; best choice I ever made." Rei said through a huge mouthful of fried bear meat and stir-fried moose meat. I smiled and said thanks. Suddenly, I sensed a strange aura coming from the forest. I decided I was just giddy from my first hunting experience and was feeling nervous. At night, when we were sleeping, everyone's belly filled and plenty of more food to share, I felt extremely paranoid. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore so I grabbed my katana and headed out to the forest. The bad omen was just getting worse as I got closer, eventually, I see a black shadow. Who is it? Is it an enemy or ally?

"Hey!" The shadow turned to face me, it was...Rei?! He came towards me and I could see dark circles under his eyes.

"Did you come because of the bad omen too?" I nodded.

"Alright, I think it's a demon. However, that could just be a guess. I don't want to alert the entire village if it's nothing. However, if there really is a demon, do you think just the both of us can handle it?" I thought about it. Rei's the best archer in the entire Siko region, and I'm the best warrior in the village, maybe other villages even. I think we would be able to handle at least one demon. I nodded.

"Alright, but be careful. I know you're excited about your possibly first demon experience, but stay alert and never let your guard down. Understand?" I nod quickly. He mumbled okay and we headed in. After walking around the forest for about 35 minutes, we deemed there was no demon. I felt a little disappointed, but relived as well. Woah-! I barely managed to evade the sharp claws.

"Ayame! I told you to never let your guard down!" I mumbled sorry as I continued to dodge and tried attacking. It was no use, every time I tried to attack it, it would only make me dodge slower. Then, all of a sudden, it's claws stopped moving and the creature, which looked like a mutant bunny, dropped dead with an arrow through its heart.

"Sorry I took so long Ayame. It was hard to find time where it would stay at least a little still. If I shot anywhere else then its head or heart, it would have gone into frenzy mode and killed you instantly." I nodded and quickly jogged back to where Rei was.

"Well, think that was the cause of the bad omen. Well, Ayame, how was your first demon experience-?" My eyes widened as a huge shadow was behind Rei.

"Rei, behind you!" I shouted as loud as I could. Luckily, he dodged the demon's claws at the nick of time, only losing a few hairs. A second late and he would've been dead. I rushed over and leaped. My katana was coming straight at the demon's head. Somehow, it dodged and retreated. I should have been satisfied with that, but for some reason, I chased it.

"A-Ayame! S-Stop!" I heard Rei perfectly but I still kept running. Eventually, we made it to a clearing in the middle of the forest. The trees were far enough to make a circle well fit for battling. I now had a good view of the demon, now that the trees weren't blocking the moonlight. I nearly blushed; he had pale skin, long red hair, red eyes defined by black eyeliner, good physique and horns. In other words, he looked nearly _human_. He looked bored and sleepy. To my surprise, he spoke.

"Hey, you human girl, are we going to fight or not? It's getting really boring."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'fight'?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean by 'fight'? I saw you fighting that demon bunny before. So fight me, it's my turn. Just watching you spar excited me." My eyes widened. He just wants to _spar_ with me?

"For a demon, you don't act it."

"That just 'cause I'm tired right now. Find me when I'm not sleepy, I'll show you demonic." I shivered.

"Anyway, are we fighting soon? I need my sleep, ASAP."

"Um, just a minute." My lord, what should I do?! I've always been told demons that look like humans are always the strongest! (it's true) If I die, that would suck...very much!

"Well, your minute is up, here I come." He charged at me, his sword pointed. I gracefully evade it out of instinct. He chuckled and tried attack me in mid-air, I kicked his blade with the heel of my sandals, which is made out of metal even those fancy smancy guns couldn't leave a mark on. There was a loud 'ching' sound, and I landed normally, at least he looked amused.

"Who thought humans could be so much fun? This is a nice alternative to brother Tomoe."

"Who's...brother Tomoe?" He crooked his head and smiled at me.

"How about this, if I win, I'll take your life." I shivered.

"However, if you win, I'll let you live and never bother this village again." My ears perked up.

"Plus, and I'll tell you about brother Tomoe. You can't say no." Well, I can't say no anyway.

"Alright." He smirked and charged at me again. This time, I was ready and easily evaded, attacked, and kicked. Near the end, I was a very tired with minimal cuts and scratches. However, the demon guy didn't look tired at all, but he suffered lots from my blade and foot. He smirked.

"Let's call this a tie. You seem exhausted and I admit, if I don't stop, I likely won't make it. Even if I'm a demon, and I heal faster than humans, I still need to know my limit. So for now, how about we call it a tie?" I closed my eyes. I liked the idea of a tie very much, but how about the prize?

"What about the prize?" I heard him 'hmm' and then he answered.

"How about, I'll tell you my name, where I hang out the most, I won't bother the village for fun anymore, only if I'm looking for you, and I'll tell you one question about Brother Tomoe. How does that sound?" I thought hard, sounds pretty good. I nodded.

"Alright, my name is Akura-ou, I hang out in this part of the forest the most, I won't bother the village regularly anymore and you can ask me one question about brother Tomoe." I thought hard, what would I like to know about this Tomoe guy? How about...

"Ayame! Ayame!" I heard Rei calling for me.

"Oh, too bad, looks like that other guy is searching for you, you can ask me a question the next time we meet, until next time, ciao." Within a second, he vanished.

"Ayame!" I heard Rei's voice sounding clearer. I found him easily. He looked super distressed and was shaking and sweating tons. When he found me, he nearly hugged me to death; I had to shove him off of me. I thought he might feel offended, but he actually seemed relieved.

"It's good to see you still have so much strength. You don't seem all that hurt. Thank goodness."

"I fought it. The demon." I smiled since he looked okay with it. Bad move. The next thing I knew was Rei shouting over one hundred words a minute into my face. Most of it was rubbish, but a little bit was comprehensible. After shouting for fifteen minutes he inspected me to make sure I was okay.

"Well, to actually think you made it out of there with this little cuts and bruises. You were lucky it was a weak one." I wanted to tell him it looked like a human, the strongest type of demons, but kept my mouth shut so he wouldn't even nag at me more.

"So, did you win?" Huh?

"Oh sorry, did I offend you? Well, of course you won, you're not dead." He scratched the back of head sheepishly and laughed. I nodded and forced a smile. I don't know why I'm doing this, but...it doesn't feel wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

For the next few days, I considered between going to find Akura-ou, and not going. One minute, I want to talk to him, and the next, I become paranoid again. What if this time, he plans to kill me? For all I know, he could have an entire army of demons waiting. Perhaps even, he wasn't fighting seriously the last time, he could definitely kill me any moment he wanted, I can't let my guard down. However, for some reason, I miss him. Woah...did I just mentally admit that? Well, I guess it's true, being around him didn't feel scary, even a little comforting. The aura around him is a bad omen, but somehow it lightens up and leaves once you're not scared anymore.

"Oh screw it, I'm going." I grab my katana and bag. My bag contains medical herbs, blade sharpener, some snacks, poison dust, and water. It was around noon right now, the sun was high and bright. I'm guessing everyone would either be in the fields or hunting right now. Should I wait until night-?

"Oi, Ayame!" I turned around to see Rei holding his bow and arrow and waving to me. I waved back.

"Do you want to go hunting again?" I thought about it. I want to see Akura-ou, but that would be impossible if Rei came with me. Plus, I don't feel secure being tired out from hunting and then going to visit a demon by myself. He could easily take advantage of me.

"Sorry Rei, I'm still tired out from everything that happened yesterday." I rub the back of my head.

"Oh, that's okay Ayame, I understand. Defeating demons and hunting on the same day isn't exactly the ideal trip for a mere fourteen-year old girl." I laugh and nod awkwardly.

"Well, let me know whenever you're feeling up to game, okay?" I nod. He walks into the forest. Yeah, I should wait until night, definitely. Well, for now, since I already have all my stuff, might as well go to the training center. I walk a short distance, until it came into view. I saw the familiar scenery; it was a grassy meadow, with tons of beaten up dummies stuck into the ground. Here, you're only allowed to use wooden swords, one swipe of a real one, well; we'd be out of dummies before you could shout 'You dummy!' Anyway, I put my katana back into its sheath and set it against a tree. If it had been a normal katana, I would have been more wary of thieves. However, since the sheath itself is 100 pounds and the blade is 300 pounds and the fact I knew everyone in the village, and they knew my skill, even without a blade; I highly doubt any of them would want to steal from _me_. I grabbed a training sword from the bucket and began practicing. Honestly, I'm a little tired of this; but it's impossible to find a fleshy training partner. One, since everyone is afraid of me (when I have a blade and is feeling up to the mood), and none of them are even close to my skill. Not trying to brag over that fact. The only one that doesn't mind sparring with me and losing every time is...

"Hey Ayame! Bring it on, I'm ready!" Yeah, that's him, my big brother. We're not completely related by blood, apparently, my dad had another affair with another lady from the neighboring village. He is the best warrior in his village. Since I'm like, a thousand times better than him, I guess that makes me the strongest warrior out of two villages at least. I turn to face him, blade over my shoulder.

"Kirito, you have fought me a million times, not once, have you ever beaten me." He still had his smirk.

"Not million, lil' sis. I counted, we only fought 4823 times!" Wow, can't believe he actually kept track. Ever since I was five and was able to hold a sword efficiently, he sparred with me. Well let's say the neighboring village lost a lot of face when a five-year old won against a ten-year old. Ever since then, he has challenged me an average of two fights per day, sometimes, even four or five times, although eventually, the neighboring village gave him some real work to do. Unfortunately, he always somehow makes time to see me.

"Whatever, the point is, you never won against me. Not even when I was a toddler." He blushed.

"I was just going easy on you. The village would've killed me if I hurt my 5 year old step-sister." I giggled and held up my sword, the wooden edge gleaming.

"If you're so certain, let's go, shall we?" He looked seriously at me.

"Ayame...would it be okay...to use real swords this time?" My eyes widened. Was he insane?! If I used my real sword, he'd be dead meat by now.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Kirito." He looked at me sadly.

"I wish I could say you're just scared, but I can't. 'Cause I'm the one that's scared over here. However..." He stood up straighter and looked me straight in the eye.

"I'm not going to let myself be scared of my own little sister. We shall have a real and formal match." I sigh and nod, and then smirked and raised one of my eyebrows.

"What will it be? Match of Death?" He looked slightly frightened before shaking his head. I laughed when I hardly heard him mumble 'I would die.' I went over to the tree to grab my katana, and gently removed it from my sheath. I looked over to my big brother, he has grown. Wow...I sound really old saying that. Oh wells, if it's a real battle he wants, he's got one!

"Okay, when that bird passes the hill, that's when we'll start!" Umm, okay? The second the bird was out of view I sped over, Kirito was paralyzed with shock. I had a split-second thought about going easy on him, but he said he wanted a real match, and a real match he'll get one! My blade was coming straight at him, he snapped out of temporary shock to drop and roll away. Now, I know he was taught by private mentors, but I never understood why they taught their pupils to roll away. Since...

"Ow!" You can just easily kick them when they're rolling. He muttered and got up, clutching his side. He should be grateful; I didn't use the heel of my shoe. He looked up to me, determination evident. He charged at me this time, I easily leaped and made a landing kick to his back. He toppled over, coughing. I could have easily won this, but I'll play with him a little bit.

"Well this stings. You're beating me, and you're not even trying nor using your blade." He grunted and gripped his sword hard. Okay, okay I think I did enough damage to his pride, let's finish this cleanly and quickly. I grabbed my sword and flipped onto the branch behind him when he blinked. The average human takes about 0.5 seconds to blink. Luckily, I was out of his eyesight by then. Coming from behind, using the heel of my sandal, I kicked him squarely in the back. He dropped immediately and his sword cluttered away from his grip. Honestly, he looked a little pitiful right about now. To my surprise, he started crying and _laughing_.

"Honestly, this is what I should've expected from the start. Did the fact I never won against you _once_ ever do anything? I guess I'm just some failure of a big brother, huh Ayame?"

"..."

"Well, thanks for the fight and fighting seriously against me. Even if you didn't strike me once with your blade, when you had so many opportunities to do so." I still didn't say anything. He struggled to get up and waved, the back of his head facing me.

"I'm 18 now, Ayame. I'm a full-bodied adult now. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of your properly, none the less protect you. I hope you'll grow up to be the best warrior in the entire Siko region, I'm rooting for ya." He waved one last time before heading back to his village, which was neck-to-neck with the training center. I saw him enter his hut, and closing his door. Did I do the right thing not saying anything? Plus, he did look after me. He would never admit it, but I sometimes see him watching me practice, from his window. I notice him leaving food and supplies inside my hut, and the blade sharpener? That was from him as well, I suppose for my tenth birthday. I smile sadly before grabbing my katana and flipping my bag onto my arm. It's about evening right now; I'll eat dinner and meet up with Akura-ou afterwards. I started to head back to my hut; I grabbed my pan and some vegetables. Today, I'll have some stir-fried vegetables and a salad. Well, vegetable salad I suppose. I have to eat healthy, so my body will stay strong; that's what my brother always told me anyway. I quickly ate my food and cleaned up the dirty dishes and put them securely away. I heard a knock on my door, I opened it.

"Ayame." I gasped and opened the door and let the elder inside. He was the head chief of the village; he was very wise and a great leader. Honestly, he's the best chief ever! He's my role model; I hope I can be as good of a leader and as wise as him one day.

"Ayame...please stop staring at me like I'm royalty." I noticed my behavior and mumbled sorry before sitting properly on my cushion. I sat with my knees under my leg and expertly poured some green tea. I handed a steaming cup over to the chief; he thanked me and accepted it.

"So, head-chief, what brings you to my home?" I was fidgeting and shaking.

"Ayame, calm down. Don't treat me like I'm the king of the world. To be honest, our social standings are rather close to each other. In fact, you may even have a higher social standing than me-."

"Nonesense!" I cried out...knocking the table and tea over. Opps. -After 1 hour of apologizing and cleaning up, although mainly apologizing-

"Ayame, it's alright. The tea didn't even touch me." I stood up straight.

"Don't lie to me Elder; I personally saw a drop of tea skid over the bottom rim of your pants." I stared deeply my mouth into a fine and straight line, the Elder sighed and shook his head.

"Ayame...calm the heck down!" I was shocked from his loud outburst. After some mumbles of apologies and a few seconds later, he talked again.

"What I meant to say is this; Ayame, you're not just some newbie that wields a sword the wrong way anymore. You are our village's strongest warrior, I expect you to live up to this standing. I understand you are only fourteen, and that this is a lot to ask of you. However, I believe you are more than capable to be. You have already proved your worth many times; it's time for you to accept it." He stopped talking for a moment to allow his words to sink into my mind. I know that I'm this village's strongest warrior, I know I showed my worth, I know I'm more than capable, but what's still missing?

"Ayame, I will take my leave for today. I hope you think about what I have said and that you sleep well." With that, the elder left and closed the door quietly. I slowly make my way to my bed after cleaning up. Now I'm _really_ uncertain about if I should visit Akura-ou or not. What the elder said wasn't false; I was the village's strongest warrior, it's time for me to live up to that expectation. Meeting and being friends with a demon wouldn't be something the strongest warrior would do. However, I keep feeling the strong urge to; I wonder why? I eventually grew restless; I can't sleep. If I can't sleep, I won't be able to function well, if I can't function well, I won't be able to fight properly, and if I don't fight properly, I won't be the strongest warrior anymore! Okay, so maybe not that dramatic, but still. I grab my bag and katana and quietly sneak out into the forest. I have to see him, I _have _to!


	3. Chapter 3

I quickly ran towards the center of the forest. There he was, just sitting on a plain and gray stone. Once I was close enough, he got off and turned to face me. I felt heat go to my face; I wonder if I was just nervous? He stared at me for a little bit before smiling.

"Yo, how are ya doing?" I instantly calmed down. Yes, this was the same, warm feeling as before. When I first saw him, the bad aura was immense, however, after a few words and he got me completely off-guard.

"I'm doing fine." I saw him nod and motion me to come closer with his finger.

"Come." I did as he asked, surprisingly without much hesitation. I was about five meters away from him. It was a comfortable distance, and I was close enough to chat.

"So girl, what did you come to find me for? To ask about brother Tomoe...or to spar?" I shook my head.

"I don't know why, but I just wanted to see you again." He laughed.

"Well isn't that rare? Most humans would've never come back after sparring with me. Mainly 'cause all of them are dead." My eyes widened, the dark aura was starting to come back.

"You don't have to be afraid though. You seem strong enough to hold your own." I started shaking. He's telling me not to be afraid?! Just after he told me he killed every single human that had to suffer fighting him? My instincts were yelling at me now, 'run away!' I flinched as he took a few steps closer to me. Run, **run**, _**run**_. That's what my mind screamed, but my legs wouldn't budge. Am I going to die? No, I don't want to die yet, not yet. I looked up and almost got a heart-attack. He was a mere meter away from me. I felt sweat on my palms and back, oh no; now I'm losing grip on my katana. I blushed a deep hue as he inched closer towards me. I could basically feel his breath on my neck now, it made me feel...weird and hot. I relaxed as he backed away. After I found my voice again, even though it was shaky and trembling, I asked him.

"What was that for?" He smiled and shrugged.

"Just remembering your scent; you're by far the most interesting human I have ever met. It would be a real shame to lose you. After all, you're super amusing, just talking to you isn't boring." He smiled; a genuine smile that looked real, that it looked _human_. I let my guard down...again.

"Um, thanks?" He chuckled at this. He used his finger to motion me to follow him. I hesitated since I was on guard this time, but I still followed. Eventually, I came to this new part of the forest which I never been to before. It was a meadow, how strange for it to be in a forest. I looked around me; there were no trees, just flowers and grass. How was this possible? How could something that stood out so much never been discovered before? Akura-ou must've noticed my confusion.

"It's impossible for normal humans to come here without the assistance of another demon. A powerful demon too." I almost felt myself gag at his puny joke. He noticed this and stuck his tongue out at me.

"It's true, ya know? I'm actually known as the strongest demon...well alive, anyway." I froze in my tracks. Did I just hear him right? You mean I just followed the strongest demon alive...and survived?! Woah, I knew my skills were good, but damn-! Oh, what the heck am I talking about?! Here I am, alone with the strongest demon alive! I might as well die already for all I know.

"...You're an amusing human, but a strange one too. One second you look really happy over something, and the next you have this scary face on. Humans are sure weird, are all of them like you?" I had to laugh at his naivety. He gave me a confused look.

"Oh, nothing~" He still looked confused but didn't press any further. Immediately he stopped, which caused me to bump into his back.

"Hey..." I mumbled as I rubbed my forehead and backed up. He didn't turn to face me.

"Hey girl, after we pass through here...you have to be careful. Don't let your guard done for a second. If I order them to, most of them won't hurt you; however, there are some followers of brother Tomoe here too. They will sometimes obey me as well, but some of them won't. Don't hesitate to kill anything that has a killing intent or tries to hurt you; neither I nor brother Tomoe will hold it against you. Don't eat anything any of them give you, no matter how nice they seem. Everything they give you is made out of poison; you can however, and touch whatever you want as long as there's no bad aura around it. If you see some of them that look like humans or little children, be wary; those are the most dangerous. Alright, that should be good enough, any questions?"

"How about the obvious one, where the heck are we going?" He chuckled.

"Somewhere fun." I sweat-dropped.

"Okay, what is going to 'hurt me'?"

"You'll see." I felt like I didn't learn anything at all.

"Okay..." He nodded and grabbed my hand; once again, the similar heat rushed to my face. Oh wells, I obediently followed him. For a split second, I felt like I entered something. Like a different platform or something. I felt a brush of cold air against my face so I closed my eyes and let Akura-ou drag me.

"Hey girl, open your eyes." I did as I was told. I gasped and held my hands to my mouth to keep from gasping loudly. I _somehow_ am now in a festival-themed place. Also...I was surrounded by demons...

"Hey! Listen up!" Immediately, every demon in sight lined up in rows, went on one knee and bowed their heads.

"Akura-ou-sama!" *sama refers to somebody of high importance.

"Hm. Okay, listen up. Do you all see this human girl over here?" They all nodded hungrily, I was getting a little nervous.

"Well...lay a hand on her and you're dead-meat, understand?" They all immediately nodded their heads.

"Alright, that is all. Oh, and if she attacks you, treat it as if It was a blow from me, got it?" They all nodded again. Akura-ou looked satisfied and dismissed them. They all went back to what they were doing before Akura-ou demanded their attention.

"Okay girl, I'm going to the red-light district right now. Remember, don't let your guard done and don't hesitate to kill. I'll come if I hear a ruckus, scream if you have to." I nod.

"Stay away from human and little children looking demons! Don't eat anything!" Those were his last words of warning as he went to this 'red-light district' as he called it. Whatever that was...

"Um, hello?" I looked over to see a flying furball; it had red fur and black bat ears. It had no eyes and black bat wings. I immediately squealed.

"Cute! Let me touch you!" The furball nervously flew around quickly as I tried to grab it.

"M-Master A-Akura-ou-sama asked me to be your guide a-and protect you...please stop trying to catch me!" It flew around furiously, still trying not to get caught. I eventually stopped torturing-uh, ahem; I meant playing with it and allowed it to guide me. Akura-ou must be trying to kill me; not letting me eat any of the food around here, it all smells so good!

"You mustn't. All the food here is delicious, but poisonous to humans." I grumbled and pouted. Eventually, we walked into a garden full of flowers. The moonlight made them iridescent.

"Woah, amazing!" I quickly walked over to them; I was prepared to grab one before noticing the bad omen. I quickly stopped and pulled back my hands. The furball looked extremely relived.

"Those flowers are lovely, but its pollen is a demon-attracter. If you get the pollen on your hands, you'll be attracting frenzied demons all night." I nod and back out of the garden, I heard a groan and leaped back, about ten meters away. My eyes widened, it was a beautiful maiden. She had fair skin, black eyes and hair, and a petite body. She was wearing a lavender kimono and had an umbrella with her. I felt myself being drawn to her but I snapped out of it when the furball repeated jammed into my face.

"No! Miss human, you can't do that! She's not really a human! It's a soul collector, if you come near enough, she'll suck your soul!" I snapped out of my daze, that's when the maiden before started mutating. Her skin turned bumpy and greenish and rotting brown. Her hair starting getting wilder and more frizzy and untamed, her face starting turning into one's of witch. Her kimono and umbrella started to turn dirty and rotting. Her eyes were black and hollow, her plump lips chapping and her skin turning wrinkly and old. No offence to her, but just looking at her made me want to puke.

"Miss human! It's a witch! It's the strongest of soul collectors, hurry run!" I gripped my blade as that creepy thing screeched like a banshee. Its long fingernails pointed at me as it came closer, I held onto my blade even harder.

"Miss human! Please, I'm begging you! You're no match for it! Run, quickly!" I smiled.

"Then tell me, furball. Could Akura-ou defeat that creepy thing?"

"Yes, quite easily as well." That was all I needed to hear. I ran towards it, my katana pointed.

"Stop! It'll suck your soul..." I could barely hear the last part; I guess he was tired of trying to stop me. From the sounds of it, he seems like he's given up on me living as well. We'll see about that. The banshee-witch awkwardly ran towards me as well, its fingers pointed. I noticed it opening its mouth and sucking air, probably trying to suck my soul out. No way am I letting that happen! In a swift moment, I leaped and sliced its head off. It didn't even have enough time to curse me to stay still. Its head rolled away, as if it was a mere rag doll. I laughed innocently before going to find the furball, who obviously ran away. I found it near this giant inn-like area; it was pestering Akura-ou about something.

"Akura-ou-sama, please listen to me! If you don't go to where that human is, she'll die! She has no chance against a witch no matter how strong you think she is!" I laughed at this.

"And I'm telling you; she'll be fine. I know her skills; she should have already defeated it by now."

"Please Akura-ou-sama! It looked extremely similar to a human! Those are the strongest!" Akura-ou looked extremely annoyed as he gripped the sword strapped to his side.

"Listen up furball. Shut up. I said she'll be okay and I damn meant it. The only reason you're not dead is since you're Tomoe's little amusement. Don't see what's so good about you though." I strolled over and grabbed the furball, it started struggling.

"Yay! I caught chu!~ You lil' cute ball of fur!" It screeched as I hugged it tighter and tighter.

"Girl, as much as I'm enjoying every single second of that thing's torture; I would appreciate it if you didn't kill it. Its brother's Tomoe little toy; he'd be pretty angry if it got killed." I pouted as I let it go. After the furball had a huge coughing fit, it was fine and started talking.

"How are you still alive? The last thing I remember you doing was charging at it." I shrugged.

"The obvious way, I killed it of course." It stopped flying for a while and dropped; luckily I caught it and snuggled it.

"Told the annoying thing. Jeez, girl; keep that thing on a leash. If you came a minute later; I swear that thing would've been dead." I giggled as I hugged it harder.

"...Okay, you can stop choking it now." I pouted again and let it drop on the floor; it started gagging. I backed up a few meters. It was a good thing I did because the next thing I knew, the furball had puked.

"Urg, disgusting. Okay girl, I'm taking this furball, go excite yourself. I'm sure the furball showed you around all the fun areas." I nodded sadly.

"Well, gotta get back to my ladies, have fun!" I tilted my head. What does he mean 'ladies'? Oh wells, I better go have some fun while I'm still in the demon world. I suppose I'll call it that since there are demons everywhere here. I had lots of fun over the next few hours; I earned lots of cash from battling other demons for bets. Watching my opponent's faces as they lost was very amusing. I wandered around, looking for how to efficiently spend my money. I eventually came to this mysterious, dark and dirty looking store. However, I saw swords so it interested me. I knocked on the door; I jumped back from surprise as it crashed down. I entered cautiously, bad omen surrounding me like a big fog. Maybe I should go back; it's a little creepy here. As I prepared to exit, a hand grabbed my arm. Let's say I screamed for a long time before it let go. As I crouched down and hugged myself in a fetal position, an old man appeared.

"What er ya? A banshee? Shut the heck uppa already." I calmed down a little bit.

"Well? Er you here to cause trouble er to buy shomthing?" I calmed down before answering.

"I'm here to take a look." He nodded.

"Have anything in mind? Meh store here gots some good stuff." I nodded.

"I use the katana, the heavier, the better." He nodded again.

"Da heavier da betta, huh? Got shomthing good in ma mind. Er follow me." I did as he told, although his accent was a little hard to follow. I eventually came to a section where there were bunch of ancient looking swords.

"Dat one over thur is the heaviest I got. It's a katana and mighty high good shape if I do shay so myself."

"How much?"

"Mightae powerful as well, I'd have ta say at least five-hundred gold coins." I widened my eyes. I had to fight six battles just to get 100 gold coins in total. Saying that much, this sword is expensive. Well, I do have 500 gold coins, but I don't want to get ripped off.

"Well, can I test it out?"

"Naw, sorry. These weapons oh mine are special. The minute you use them, they will know you as their master. They're all home-made by me, so I should know." I nodded. Well best to be safe than sorry. As I prepared to exit, some demon crashed through the window. I was instantly held down by a huge force. I tried getting up, but the force was immense. It was like the force was tape, holding me down. I struggled to grab my katana. I managed to and attempted to slice the air above me, as if cutting the force. To my surprise, it actually worked. However, I was dragged back down again as new force came crashing down on me. To my surprise, the old man didn't even struggle to stay up. It was as if it didn't affect him in the least.

"How come you're still okay?!" I could talk, but my body wouldn't budge.

"I didn't useta be the strongest demon for no'thing." I gasped.

"But my body's old and worn out now. I guess this's the end for me too."

"W-What?! N-No! I don't want to die yet! Isn't there anything we can do?!"

"...To be honest. I had no intention of sellin' dat sword toyah." My eyes widened.

"Dat's a demonic sword. If it doesn't accept yah, yah must as well be dead."

"...Will it save us?"

"Er? What was dat, lil' lady?"

"I said if it accepts me, will it save us?"

"...That sword holds tremendous 'mounts oh energy. Yer could do much more than save us if er accepts yer." I nodded; I struggled to go grab it.

"Give up. Every demon that tried ta use it er dead. How is er mere human like yer going to do that?"

"It's better than doing nothing! I rather die knowing I tried!" I grumbled as I continued to try to reach it.

"Heh, I like yer guts lil' lady. Willin' to put yer life on tha line to save da both of us?"

"We'd both would die if I did nothing. At least if I die this way, I could die knowing...I tried!" I grabbed the sword as a huge amount of force entered my body. It soon became unbearable; it felt like it was stretching my skin and destroying my organs.

"Heh, you're really something lil' lady. I can't help yer though lil' lady, the rest is up to yer!"

Immediately, I blacked out.


End file.
